Southwest Days (Semiautomatic Sorceress Book 2) by Kal Aaron (ebook reader for manga .txt) 📗

Lyssa brooded on the thought as she headed out the front doors. By the time she returned to the gauntlet near the opening, she’d given up on strawberry wafers. She hurried past everyone toward the parking lot and her bike.

“Do you think they wanted me to find it?” she whispered. “They could have taken it with them, but they left it. If not me, then another Torch.

“You would know better than me,” Jofi replied. “But might I suggest they left it to avoid someone using it as a basis for tracking sorcery? Their sacrifice was already achieved, assuming your theory is correct. They no longer needed the shard. Its mere presence doesn’t prove anything more than what you already presume, that a Sorcerer is involved.”

Lyssa laughed. “This is even more messed-up than usual, huh?”

A dark-haired man stood in front of her bike. His back was turned, but he was doing something to the seat. What were the chances?

Lyssa growled and stomped over toward him. What the hell was wrong with people in the valley? She’d beat down every person in the county to protect her bike. Someone wanted a broken jaw.

“Hey, asshole,” she shouted. “Stay the hell away from my bike. You hate being able to breathe?”

The man spun, revealing a familiar handsome face. It’d been only a fleeting encounter at a gas station weeks ago, but Lyssa was good at remembering faces, especially when she talked to the person. It was her day for coincidences.

“Bill?” she asked, sounding as surprised as she felt.

He smiled and nodded at her seat. There was a piece of paper with writing weighed down with a rock. He held a pen, not a screwdriver, and had written Dear Lyssa.

Lyssa stared at him. “What’s going on, exactly? Sorry about the threat. I thought you were trying to steal it.”

“Nope. I wouldn’t dare.” Bill grabbed the paper and crumpled it. “I was coming out of the library when I saw a bright yellow Ducati. I thought to myself, ‘What are the chances that two people have that exact bike around here?’ Forget about the color. I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of bike before yours.”

“My bike?” Lyssa shook her head. “You remembered?”

“You and your bike are kind of hard to forget.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

He gave her a dimpled smile. “I figured someone up there was trying to tell me something, and I figured a note couldn’t hurt. The worst thing that could happen was you would blow me off, and I was back to where I started.” He chuckled. “Are you still on the way to something?”

Lyssa stared at him, trying to judge the situation. Given the population of the area, running randomly into a man she’d met at a gas station was incredibly unlikely, but she didn’t sense any sorcery from him. There was no tension in his face or stance, nothing to indicate he was all that worried.

That didn’t mean he was innocent. Shadows had normal stalkers, and as he’d pointed out, she had a very distinctive bike. It wouldn’t be impossible to track her down, depending on how dedicated a man was.

But the more she considered the possibility, the less sense it made. She had stayed home for the last month, and she’d not been on the job, meaning she would have been easier to find in Scottsdale than at a random Phoenix library.

Lyssa pinched the bridge of her nose. Blowing Bill off again would be the easiest option, but it might mean she missed out on a chance for something outside her job. It wasn’t the right time for her to pursue a relationship, but it also wasn’t the right time for her to push things away.

Lyssa lowered her arms. “Hold up your right hand with your palm out.”

“Huh?” Bill complied. “Like this?”

“Solemnly swear on your grandmother’s grave that you’re not a stalker,” Lyssa continued.

“But my grandma’s still alive.” Bill looked confused. “She’s super-healthy.”

“Do it anyway.” Lyssa leaned forward and locked her gaze on his. “Please.”

Bill laughed. “I solemnly swear on my grandmother’s grave I’m not a stalker.”

Lyssa looked for a twitch or an aversion of the eyes suggesting guilt, but Bill stared straight at her with a faint smile. She had decent reasons to distrust him, but maybe he was right, and the universe was telling them both something like, “It might be a bad idea to date guys you work with, so here’s a cute guy who isn’t an EAA agent.” Mixing work and the job might be a problem.

She sighed and scrubbed a hand over her face. “Okay, this is going to sound weird, but I need you to hear me out.”

“Sure thing, Lyssa.” Bill moved to sit on the bike but stopped himself. “Sorry. I know better than to mess with someone’s bike. And I do like being able to breathe.”

A man who could crack jokes after being threatened with vicious injury was worth at least checking out.

“I forgive you.” Lyssa took a deep breath. “I’m interested in you.”

Bill’s eyes widened. “You are? Great!”

“And I’m not out of your league,” Lyssa said.

“Oh, crap. You remember my friends.” He groaned. “Those guys are idiots.”

“Yeah, I remember them.” Lyssa walked toward her bike. Bill moved out of the way, and she straddled it. “And if things weren’t so hectic for my life right now, I’d go out with you tomorrow, but I’m in the middle of a job and some personal family stuff. I’m willing to commit to a date when I have time.”

“When you have time?” Bill sounded disappointed.

Lyssa nodded. “When I have time. That’s the best I can do. I hate to sound like I’m messing with you, but you wouldn’t believe the week I’m having.”

“Okay, I get that.” Bill offered a strained smile. “When exactly will you have time?”

“When I have time,” Lyssa said. “This is my life. I could lie and bat my eyelashes and claim it won’t happen again, but if you’re seriously interested in me, you might as well